All I Need
by greeneyedbaby
Summary: Finn has been best friends with Aleeya Franklin forever, but he has started to notice things: bruises on her arm, swollen eyes. She insists it's nothing, but Finn knows something's wrong. Can Finn be able to help Aleeya, before it's too late? Finn/OC
1. Chapter 1

_**This story includes incidents of child-abuse and graphic images. This is an OC love/hurt/mildly comical story including Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman, but is widely OC. If you dislike OC stories, I suggest that you don't read. No, I don't own Glee. But that's cute.**_

**Chapter 1: A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words**

Aleeya glared into the mirror, a deep hatred burning in her bright blue eyes while she twisted a piece of chestnut brown hair around her pointer finger. Ruby red blood ran down her red cheek.

A cut. Just a cut. Definitely not the worst that he'd done, that's for sure. When he smacked her, his ring must've sliced her cheek. Stupid ring. Stupid ridiculous diamond-studded ring that her dad always wore securely on his right pinky. She swore he wore that _specifically _to make his strikes hurt that much worse.

Deciding that it was useless to dwell on something that could not be changed, Aleeya shuffled to the bathroom closet door. Without even thinking she grabbed as the clear liquid tingled and rubbing alcohol, a few cotton balls and a waterproof Band-Aid. She cleaned her cut with the alcohol, wincing burned her skin, and placed the bandage on it. It was weird, how she'd known how to do this without thinking. It was like it programmed into her; he'd hurt her so many times and left her to clean up his mess. Sick, disturbing, but so very true.

Once she'd glared into the mirror, the hard expression softened slightly. She felt guilty, unbearably so. She'd done something; she _must've _done _something _that angered him. Did she forget to clean the house before he came home? Was the food she cooked burnt? Did she say something wrong? What, _what_ did she do this time? She needed to know, she needed to know so bad. So she didn't do it again. Then maybe, just maybe he would stop. _This _would stop. Why couldn't it stop?

She was crying. Tears were now running freely down her cheeks, and she hadn't even noticed. Jaw clenched, she grabbed a tissue and dabbed rapidly under her bloodshot eyes. As she dabbed, her eyes caught on a picture hanging on a single nail from the wall. Frowning, crumpled the tissue in her fist and walked over to the frame. The picture was of her ten-year-old self stood in a field of weeds, grinning blissfully with Lake Erie in the background. Her dad, Greg, stood on her right, a grin plastered on his face. His chocolate brown hair blew slightly in the mid-August breeze. Her mother, Bethany, a beautiful kind-hearted woman with stunning blue eyes that Aleeya had inherited, was on her left. Bethany's arm was draped over Aleeya's shoulder and she had a bright smile that showed her perfectly white teeth.

It was nearly impossible to believe that a mere _two _years later, Bethany would've disappeared without a trace, leaving Aleeya at home with her emotionally unstable father. Greg was usually calm, except for when he drank. Then he would yell and scream and fight with her mother. It'd gotten so bad, that she'd left. Although Aleeya couldn't really blame her, she wished that Bethany would've just taken her with her. Not left her with him. He was a twisted man; a man who only knew hate, not love, affection or compassion.

She gingerly touched her mother's frame in the picture, whispering, "I miss you, Mommy," before tossing her crumpled tissue in the trash can and leaving the bathroom, turning off the florescent light on her way out.

She sat on her neatly made bed, glancing at the clock. 6:32. Too early to go to sleep, which was what she normally did after events like this. She laid her head softly on her pure white comforter, her dark chestnut hair sprawling itself out on the bed. Her bright blue eyes roamed the room again in search for something to do. Another picture caught her eye, this one of herself, Puck and Finn. Smiling, she got off her bed, walked over to the desk where the picture lay and sat on her black rolling desk chair.

Puck and Finn: her two best friends for as long as she could remember. They'd met on the first day of kindergarten. She'd been building a humungous tower out of LEGOs. She was so proud of it, too. It was bigger than anything she'd ever attempted at making and it was actually standing tall! Just as she was about to put the finishing piece on, an evil five-year-old Dave Karofsky swung his red Nikes at the tower, sending it crashing to the ground. The yellow, green, red and blue pieces flew everywhere, and Aleeya's jaw dropped to the ground. "You, you, you big _jerk_!" she screamed throwing her hands up in the air, clearly flustered and shocked. Noah had instantly rushed over (people still called him _Noah_ back then, he wasn't super in to being a badass) and yelled at Karofsky, pushing the husky little kid to the ground. Finn came over just seconds behind Noah, rushing to Aleeya's side to help her pick up the building blocks. Ms. Hines, their ancient kindergarten teacher, shuffled towards Noah and Karofsky, tugging on Noah's ear before Karofsky could react and pulling the mowhawked boy towards the principal's office, scolding him along the way. Karofsky called Aleeya a baby and rubbed his shoulder before grumbling away towards his sidekicks. Finn glared at the boy as he walked away before asking her if she was okay. She'd sniffled yes before wrapping Finn into a hug, grateful for the oddly tall boy's help.

It was a weird start for a friendship, but it was a start. They learned that they had similar interests: they all loved Donkey Kong, playing on the monkey bars, P.E, chocolate-chip ice cream, dogs, LEGOs and the color blue. Finn, Aleeya and Puck were able to look past the 'cooties' that their classmates were oh-so worried about and became friends. They played football with one another, watched SpongeBob and played Mario Kart.

Puck always joked that it was so easy for him and Finn to hang out with her because she acted like a boy. She always Charlie-horsed him when he said it, but she knew it was true. It was much easier for her to hang out with boys. Girls were annoying. They were obnoxious and annoying and catty and bitches. They spread secrets and backstabbed one another; she really didn't need that in her life. Yeah, it was cool to hang out with the glee girls sometimes, but she would never dare trust them with any of her secrets, especially Santana, Tina or Mercedes.

Drifting away from her thoughts, she glanced at the picture again intently. It was cute; a picture that the wedding photographer had snapped of the three at Carole and Burt's wedding. Finn was in the middle, sporting his usual goofy grin (and looking extremely handsome in his tux,) Puck on his right with a classic smirk and Aleeya on his left, her face scrunched in mid-laugh. Her mom used to joke that they were "thick as thieves" growing up. It had been completely true, up until 'baby-gate.'

That was a disaster. Finn had told Aleeya about Quinn being pregnant just a few minutes after Quinn had told him. She'd let him cry on her shoulder and promised to keep his secret and help in whatever way she possibly could. Puck told her shortly afterwards that _he _indeed was the one who impregnated Quinn. Aleeya had flipped out, calling Puck an irresponsible selfish heartless asshole. But she, reluctantly, had also promised to keep Puck's secret. She was able to hold her tongue and prayed that the whole thing would just blow over. That, of course, didn't happen thanks to Rachel Big-Mouthed Berry. Finn blew up, and Aleeya had never felt guiltier in her life. He stonewalled her, just as he did Puck. It was terrible and made her completely miserable. But after a few weeks of begging on her part, Finn forgave her. _That _was a miracle.

A short _buzz_ of her phone, yet again, broke her from her thoughts. She put the frame down, grabbed her phone and saw that it was a text from Finn. "Speak of the devil," she whispered jokingly.

"_hey lee. me n puck r playin sum c.o.d. u wanna come ovr?_" the text read. She smiled to herself, readying her phone to send a response. Her hand ghosted over her Band-Aid covered cheek while she attempted to brush a stray strand of chestnut hair out of her face and she hesitated. Keeping her phone in her hand, she eased herself out of the chair and tiptoed to her door and eventually down the stairs.

She let out a heavy sigh of relief when she saw her dad was passed out on the brown leather couch, a bottle of scotch in his hand. She got her phone out again and sent a text to Finn, "_how could i pass up the opportunity to kick your and puckerman's ass at COD? i'll be over in a few."_ She subconsciously smiled again, before tiptoeing to the kitchen counter, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen. Writing her dad a quick note of where she'd be at and promising she'd be home before curfew, she folded the paper and wrote, "DAD" in large bubbly letters on the front.

Hurrying out the door, she grabbed the keys to her black Hummer, slipped on a pair of white Toms and shut the door behind her. Once she'd gotten safely inside her car, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Holy shit," she murmured at her mascara smudged eyes. She groaned, grabbing her make-up bag out of the center console. She cleaned her eyes, redid her eyeliner and mascara before ripping her Band-Aid off and covering her cut with cover-up. Sure, it wasn't great for the wound, but it looked a lot better than having a fucking bandage on your cheek.

The drive to the Hudson-Hummel house was short, as usual. She really liked the new location of Finn's house, only a few blocks away from hers. It was at a much more convenient location than the other. Once she'd gotten out of her car, locked it, she walked to the door and rang to doorbell. She teetered on her heels, rocking back and forth until the door was opened by Burt Hummel.

"Hey, Mr. Hummel," she greeted to older flannel-clad man, flashing him her brightest smile.

"Hi, Aleeya," he smiled back, raising the beer in his right hand to greet her. "Finn and Puckerman are downstairs," he told her, stepping out of the way, giving Aleeya room to walk into the house.

"Thanks," she said, walking into the house and making her way to the staircase. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Hummel."

"You too," he responded, giving her another smile. She made her way down the steps and was greeted by the deafening sounds of gun fires, blood spattering and "dammit!" followed along by "this game is fucking rigged." She laughed to herself and made her way to the sofa in which the boys were seated at, sitting on the furniture's arm closest to Finn.

Finn welcomed her with a warm smile, Puck simply grunted. Glancing at the TV, she laughed again. "You guys _suck_. Like, hard," she noted, scuffing Finn's hair affectionately.

"What the fuck ever, Princess. Put your fucking money where your mouth is, grab a controller and help us out," Puck grumbled, throwing an X Box controller her way.

"Calm your tits, Puckerman. Don't worry, these guys are gonna go down faster than Santana on a first date," she stated as Finn readied the game for her to join.

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They played for another few hours, winning a vast majority of the games they competed in. Then Kurt stomped downstairs, demanding they turn the "stupid, brain-cell destroying and idiotic, senseless, culture-killing _damned _game" down. Everyone, even Puck, was scared of a pissy Kurt, so they turned on a movie instead. Much to Aleeya's dismay, it was 28 Days Later, a movie that she didn't mind watching at first, but Finn and Puck had forced her to watch it _so many times_ that she could practically speak the words for the actors.

Halfway through the movie, Aleeya passed out, her head rested on Finn's shoulder and her arm wrapped around his waist. "So man," Puck said to Finn, "when are you gonna ask her out?"

Finn's eyebrows furrowed. "Who?"

Puck rolled his eyes. "Kim fucking Kardashian. Who do you think dickwipe? _Aleeya_."

Finn's freckled cheeks flushed a bright red. "Shut up, dude. What if she's not asleep? She could've heard you!"

Puck shrugged, "she's asleep. Trust me." He grabbed Aleeya's arm from Finn's waist and dropped it again. "See? She would've woken up. Now, don't think you can avoid the question, fucktard. You've had a crush on her for-_ever,_ when are you gonna make a move?"

Finn shifted uncomfortably on the leather couch. "I don't even know if she likes me. I don't handle rejection well."

"Boo fucking hoo. Grow a pair. Trust me; you need to go for it. Before someone else does."

He put on his classic confused face. "What?"

"Leeya's a hot girl. She ain't gonna stay single forever. You need to snatch her up before she finds someone better."

"Gee thanks," Finn muttered, returning his gaze to the TV screen.

"C'mon, man. It's true. You need to ask her out, _soon_. Today, preferably."

Finn bit his lip and Aleeya's grip on him shifted, pulling his waist closer towards her, making soft smacking noises as she slept. He smiled at her, brushing her hair behind her ear. "You're right. A dick, yes, but you're right."

"Cool," Puck nodded, getting off the couch.

"What're you doin'?"

"Waking your future girlfriend up so you can work your goofball charm that girls seem to love on her," Puck stated simply, searching the couches and floor for something.

"What? Not right now! I need, I need some time!" Finn sputtered, pleading his best guy friend to sit back down.

"You know what they say, dude. No time like the present," Puck smiled. He grabbed a pillow off of the couch, raising it high above his head, and bringing it down on Aleeya and Finn's heads.

"Ow!" Finn yelped, rubbing his now sore scalp.

Aleeya simply flinched, raised her head up slightly and squinted. She growled softly at Puck before returning to her spot on Finn's shoulder, rubbing her cheek against him. Puck rolled his eyes, and before Finn could stop him, Puck smacked Aleeya in the face again with the throw pillow.

She didn't flinch this time; instead she grabbed Puck's forearms, opened her mouth wide and clamped her teeth down on his skin. Puck let out a moan, "the hell?"

"That's what you get, you rude-ass motherfucker. Why did you just hit me?" she countered wearily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she reluctantly raised her head from Finn's shoulder. Finn frowned at the loss of Aleeya's touch and shot a glare at Puck.

"Uh," Puck started, silently regretting that he hadn't thought this through too much. He was a 'live in the moment' kind of guy.

"We were having a pillow fight," Finn finished for him, smiling reassuringly. She narrowed her eyes, obviously skeptical.

"Why don't you have a pillow, Finn?…" Aleeya inquired quirking dark eyebrow and glancing between the two boys.

"Er-" Finn stumbled, "well…"

"Whatever, you two are weird. What time is it?" she yawned.

Glancing at a nearby clock, Puck answered, "9:53."

Aleeya's face fell. "What? You've got to be shitting me." Puck shook his head. "Dammit. Dammit, dammit!" She scrambled up, slipping her shoes back on and adjusting the hem of her shirt.

"What the fuck are you wigging out about?" Puck asked.

"My curfew's 10," she stated, as if it was obvious. Finn and Puck gazed at her questioningly. "It's almost 10! If I'm late-" she stopped and shuddered at the thought. "I gotta go. Now." Puck frowned.

"What? No! You can't go! Be late, for once. Shit, grow a fucking backbone. Stay, _stay_!" Puck pleaded, tugging on Aleeya's arm, not unlike a little kid throwing a temper tantrum.

"Haha," she laughed humorlessly, "you know my fucking dad. He'll rip me a new asshole."

"But," Puck started, obviously pissed, "Finn has something he wants to tell you."

Finn's mouth fell agape, suddenly at a loss for words. "Not with you here, man," Finn muttered to Puck.

"What, Finn?" Aleeya asked, placing a hand on her slender hip, her and Puck looking at him expectantly.

He kept gulping, like a fish out of water, not quite knowing what to say. "Well," he stuttered again. "Uh- you're hair looks really pretty like that," he finally spat. Puck chuckled from behind Aleeya and she frowned.

"That's what you had to tell me?" she deadpanned. He nodded. "I wasted three minutes of my time for you to tell me my hair looks pretty? Whatever, I'll see you losers at school tomorrow." She looked questioningly at Finn again before rushing up the steps.

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Aleeya slowly opened the door at 10:06 to find a seemingly empty house. She let out a sigh of relief and closed the door behind her.

"Where the fuck've you been?" a drunken voice called from the darkness.

She groaned silently, cursing her luck. She'd hope her dad would still be passed out, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. "I was at Finn's, I left you a no-" she explained, looking down at the cold wood-paneled ground.

"Shut up, stupid," her dad interrupted, stepping closer to Aleeya, his face becoming illuminated from the street lights outside that shone through the windows. "You're late."

"I know," she mumbled, "I'm sorry. I lost track of time-"

"Don't give me fuckin' _excuses_. Why didn't you tell me where you were goin'?" he slurred, coming face-to-face with his daughter. "Huh?" he pressed, shoving her against the door.

"I did," she squeaked, not quite being able to find her voice. "Dad, I left you a note. I was trying to tell you that before-"

"You didn't leave me no note," he stated, spraying his breath that reeked of alcohol in her face.

"Yes, I _did, _Dad. I left it on the kitchen table," she argued back quietly.

"Really?" he slurred. Grumbling, he grabbed Aleeya by the hair, dragging her towards the kitchen. Her Toms, having little traction, caused her feet slipped across the slick floor. Once they'd gotten to the kitchen, he turned the light on. "Where is it?" he asked, nearly rhetorically. Aleeya gulped and looked at the kitchen counter. It wasn't there. It wasn't where she put it. Fuck, did she misplace it? Did it blow away? Where the _fuck_ did it go?

"I don't know," she said softly.

"Huh? I can't _fucking _hear you!" he screamed, tightening his grip on Aleeya's hair, yanking her upwards.

She cried out in pain, "I don't know! I don't know, Dad! I put it on the counter, I swear I did."

"You swear?" he asked. "Are you calling me a liar, then?" Her dad scoffed, shoving her against the wall and changing his grip from her hair to her throat. She gasped, his fingers curling around her neck. "You _dare_ come in _my_ fucking house and call me a liar?" She shook her head vigorously, but that still didn't seem to appease her father as he lifted her off the ground. "Then what are you trying to say? You didn't leave a fucking note and you _know _it."

She wanted to protest, she _wasn't _lying. She had written the goddamn note, she was _sure _of it. But her air was being cut off; she couldn't go for much longer. "You're right," she whispered, finding it incredibly hard to speak.

"Damn straight I'm right. I'm always fucking right. That's the way it works: I'm right, you're wrong. You're stupid, I'm smart. Right?" She nodded her head, desperate for oxygen. Her lungs clenched together and expanded rapidly, needing new air. "Fuck. Now you'd better fucking apologize. For leaving without me knowing _and _coming home after curfew."

"I'm sorry."

"This'd better never fucking happen again. You got me?"

"Yes."

"_What_?" he growled, tightening his grip again.

She whimpered, "Yes, sir. I promise."

His nostrils flared, but he reluctantly released her neck. Aleeya inhaled desperately, collapsing on the ground, rubbing her neck with one hand and her ribs with the other. "Good, because next time? You won't be so fucking lucky," he spat before kicking her in the calf.

_Lucky_? This was what fucking _lucky _was? Nearly being strangled to death? She decided to not speak, and instead cowered on the floor.

"Get your pathetic self upstairs and go to bed," her dad ordered. Aleeya stayed where she was on the ground, not able to move. "I said _now_," he grumbled and she got herself together and scrambled to her room.

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_**Like? Dislike? I have a few more chapters written, but I will not post them unless they are wanted. Review! Alert! Thanks.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thanks to Miami Scene for reviewing and anyone who favorited/alerted. I'm hoping I can get more reviews soon, it always motivates me to post my chapters faster!**_

**Chapter 2: Jump**

After the umpteenth layer of foundation, the fingertip bruises around Aleeya's neck could still easily be seen. She could just call in sick to school. Just not show up so no one had to see her like this. However, then she risked spending the whole day with her father, he didn't work on Fridays.

She bit her lip hard, nearly drawing blood, before walking to her closet and grabbing a scarf. She wrapped the blue and gray piece of fabric around her neck several times, looking in the mirror to adjust it. As much of a cliché as it was, at least people would assume that she was hiding a hickey. That was a hell of a lot better than the truth.

Deciding that she looked okay, she fluffed her hair before grabbing her messenger bag and heading out the door.

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Puck sauntered into the room with swagger, shifting his bag over his shoulder before sinking into a seat. Aleeya strolled into the choir room a few moments afterwards and sighed when she saw her best friend's behavior. Sometimes, well most of the time, he was a fucking idiot. She sat a couple seats behind him then absent-mindedly began playing with her scarf. She was sweating under the garment and was swearing under her breath for having to wear it. Even though it was winter and a wrap was perfectly acceptable, McKinley had the heat blasted to counter the cold Ohio air. Fuck.

Almost as if a perfectly timed distraction from her current perspiration problem, Finn walked in the room. Aleeya welcomed him with a big smile that he immediately mirrored back. He headed to where she was sitting and kept his goofy grin. They sat quietly for a few moments before Puck turned to the two teens, gave Finn a knowing look and nodded. Aleeya looked at the two boys hesitantly and watched Finn gulp.

"So-so, Aleeya," he stuttered, rubbing his visibly sweating hands together. He continued to stammer and mumbled inaudible words; Puck groaned and ran his hand through his mowhawk.

Before Finn could utter another word, Rachel had jumped up from her chair on the opposite side of the room and was hurrying over to the group of friends. "Finn!" she greeted loudly and smiled brightly.

"Oh, hey Rach," Finn responded, clearly less than enthusiastic, "what's up?"

Rachel looked uneasily at Puck and Aleeya, giving the latter a hostile jaw clench. Once her eyes caught Finn's, her grin reappeared. "I was just thinking, since we have Nationals soon-"

"In two and a half months," Puck quickly interjected. Rachel glared at him before continuing.

"Anyways, I think that we should work on a duet for us to sing. Starting now will make sure we're extra prepared."

"Uh, yeah," Finn stammered, seemingly saying anything that would make Rachel leave sooner. "Totally, I'll talk to you about it later."

"Well," Rachel said, welcoming herself to the open seat on the other side of Finn, "I was thinking that we could do it tomorrow! You could come over, eat dinner and then we could practice."

"Rach-"

"My dads are making vegan meatloaf, and I swear it tastes just like the real thing."

"How would you know that?" Aleeya countered mockingly, causing Rachel to scowl.

"So, what do you think, Finn?" she asked the tall boy, blinking her long eyelashes.

He looked between Puck and Aleeya, the Jewish boy shaking his head while the blue-eyed girl continued to fiddle with her scarf. "I dunno, Rachel," he said finally, trying to be as nice as he possibly could. When Rachel's face fell, he quickly backtracked, "Maybe next weekend?"

She glanced at Finn, and then half-heartedly said, "Sure, that sounds fantastic." She took another look at the other two teens, both of which were now both looking around the room and avoiding eye-contact at all costs. After Rachel silently retreating to her seat, Aleeya let out a sigh.

"That was awkward," she groaned.

"Hells yeah," Puck quickly agreed before looking at Finn. "Now, isn't there something you wanted to ask Leeya?"

"Uh-" Finn stammered only to be yet again cut off, this time by Mr. Schue. As he began to start the club, Finn sighed. "Nevermind, I'll just talk to you later." She narrowed her eyes in confusion before shrugging her shoulder and focusing her attention on the curly haired man in the front.

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Aleeya had never liked school. In fact, she hated it. As far as she was concerned, the only good thing about school was that it gave her a few hours away from home. It was pointless. Let's be honest, when are you going to have to know what year the Civil War ended? Or when the hell would it be helpful to know how many neutrons a gold atom had? Fuck school.

She suspected that she hated school due to her difficulty to concentrate. As hard as she tried, as long as she stared at a paper, her mind wandered. She thought about her mom, about her dad and about how miserable she was. It made learning nearly impossible.

"Aleeya, what did you get for x?" Artie asked her, tapping his pencil on the table as he waited for an answer.

She blinked back to reality momentarily before grimacing and looking at her paper. "Uh, eight?" she guessed, completely having no idea what the right answer was having done none of the work.

"Close," Artie said encouragingly, "it's 28.71."

"How was that close?" she remarked, running her fingers through her hair. Artie looked at her sympathetically before shrugging. She lowered her head down on the table and closed her eyes. This was making her head hurt.

"Let me see it," he said so Aleeya shoved her notebook across the table to him. He looked over it momentarily before saying, "You just didn't factor correctly. Here, I'll show you how to do it." Then he began erasing and scribbling down answers while Aleeya watched. She felt bad; this was about the hundredth time that she had simply watched him do her homework. He was nice, far too nice.

Artie had been tutoring her for about the past six weeks. Her Geometry teacher, Mrs. Geiss, had asked him desperately to help Aleeya with math after she'd failed her past three tests. She was glad that Mrs. G had requested Artie instead of some acne-ridden nerd who would look down on her for not having memorized the quadratic formula. She'd had those kinds of tutors before, and it never ended well.

It wasn't just Geometry that Aleeya struggled with; it was Physics, World History and almost everything in between. Besides Study Hall, she was failing everything. It sucked, and it didn't make her dad happy. Every time she brought home yet another failed report card, he would bring out his belt. This belt wasn't an ordinary belt; it had metal studs on it that made her skin burn whenever struck with. He would whip her on the back, the legs and sometimes the forehead, calling her horrible and degrading names that he etched into her mind.

A light touch on her arm caused her to jump in her seat and made her skin crawl with goosebumps. Artie looked at her nervously and guiltily said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," she immediately said, twirling a piece of hair between her fingers.

He looked hesitant, but he adjusted his glasses and handed back her notebook. "Do you see how to do it now?"

She glanced at the paper. It might as well have been in gibberish. Faking a smile, she said, "Yeah. Totally. Thanks, Artie." She knew that the handicapped boy could tell she was lying, but she didn't really care. "I'll see you next Friday, okay?" He nodded and they both gathered their stuff before heading their separate ways.

Walking out the doors into the bitter cold, she hugged her belongings close to her as she walked towards the gym. She was welcomed by the smell of sweat and Axe as she opened the door and looked for Finn and Puck among the boys who'd just gotten out of basketball practice. The pair came walking towards her, both drenched in sweat although they had changed out of their practice jerseys. Her face contorted in disgust: boys were gross.

They walked towards Aleeya, Puck greeting her with a light punch which she immediately returned but significantly harder. "Let's go," Finn quickly said. "I'm starving," he added, rubbing his stomach for an extra effect.

Rolling her eyes, she remarked, "You're _always _hungry."

Finn shrugged, agreeing while Puck ran towards Aleeya's car and shouted, "Shotgun!" triumphantly.

The tall boy next to her frowned, "He always gets shotgun."

"Maybe you shouldn't let him get there first," she reasoned before unlocking her car and allowing the two boys to get it.

"Fucking freezing," Puck remarked immediately, rubbing his hands together in attempt to warm them.

Revving the engine, she buckled up before peeling out of the parking lot. Puck turned on the radio to a rock station and began to take his shoes off. "Ew!" Aleeya said, gagging. "Put them back on," she ordered. "Put them back on _now_. You smell like a dirty diaper with skunk piss on it." He scowled at her before putting his shoes on reluctantly. "Nasty, nasty, nasty. Please tell me your car will be fixed soon so I don't have to drive your disgusting ass around anymore," she groaned. They got to Puck's house relatively quickly and Aleeya put the car in the park and waited for Puck to get out.

"So, I have something to ask you two," Puck said, placing his arms behind his head in a relaxed fashion, giving the girl beside him a waft of his B.O. "There's this girl that I've been trying to get for a while now, but she's being really stubborn and is resisting her urges to get a taste of Puckzilla."

"Your narcissism really is outstanding," Aleeya grinned, resting her head on the steering wheel.

"Anyways, she won't go out with me because I bet she's scared I'm gonna charm her panties off, but I think a _double_ date will be a little less intimidating. So, you two are going to be the other couple."

Aleeya looked back at Finn, who was looking at the ground and blushing furiously. "Sure," she shrugged. "If it's okay with Finn, it's cool with me."

"Really?" Finn nearly gaped.

"Of course. Who wouldn't want to see Puck get turned down?" She looked at Puck with a smirk. "It's high-larious."

"Hardy har-har," Puck glared. "So, tomorrow night? I'll meet you two at BreadstiX with my girl. Sound good?"

"Sure does."

"Yep," Finn piped up, grinning widely.

Puck winked at Finn in the backseat before saying goodbye and exiting the car.

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Greg had just woken up from his alcoholic coma when Aleeya was done making dinner. He sat down at the kitchen table while she silently fixed him his plate of roast beef and potatoes. She poured him a glass of red wine, stopping when her father grunted. She noticed that the bottle was empty so she walked it to the trash bin, noticing another empty container of Smirnoff's on the counter that she decided to grab as well.

Once she'd grabbed her plate, she sat at the table opposite her father. She watched hesitantly as her father took a large scoop of potatoes and shove them in his mouth. "Too much milk," he commented with his mouth half full.

Sipping her water, she said sadly, "Sorry." She glared hatefully at him before cutting up her meat. Taking him in, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes and wondered if he'd slept at all last night or just passed out in between drinking. His hair was limp and greasy while his dark brown eyes looked lifeless. Beside before he headed off to work, this was how he always looked.

Aleeya continued to push around the food on her plate while Greg scarfed down the remainder of his food and downed half of his glass of wine. He glanced momentarily at his daughter as she neglected to bring any of the food that she stabbed with her fork to her mouth. He didn't seem to notice as he ate the last bit of his roast beef, clanged his fork on the plate, took his glass and disappeared out of the room. Following her father's suit, she took her uneaten plate to the sink and began to clean it off.

She honestly couldn't remember the last time that she'd eaten a full meal. Her strange eating habits had begun a few months after her mother had left. Instead of consuming her food, she played with it until her dad was done eating. Although he saw it every day, he'd either chosen to turn a blind eye or he simply didn't care enough to notice it.

"Aleeya!" she heard her dad scream from across the house. She contemplated not answering, but decided that she should. Setting down the dishes in the sink, she walked to where she assumed her dad was. Walking into his den, she saw her dad sitting at his desk, shuffling through his stacks and stacks of papers.

"Yes?" she mumbled hesitantly.

Looking up, he scowled. "Did you go through my shit?"

"No," she answered immediately, clenching her jaw and bracing herself for what was to come.

"Why are you fucking lying to me? I have a damn meeting with a client that I have to prepare for Monday and all my papers are fucking gone," he exploded, nearly knocking his table over and causing Aleeya to flinch.

"I'm not lying," she said desperately.

He rushed over to where she was standing and instantly backed her into a wall. Raising his hand threateningly, he growled, "You dishonest little bitch, I swear to God if I found out that you took it-" He stopped momentarily, clenching his fists together before backing up. He went to his desk and ghosted his hand over the handle of one of his drawers. "You know what's in there?"

Beginning to visibly shake, she nodded her head.

"So, you better not have fucking touched it. You understand me?" She nodded again. "Good," he said cruelly. "Now get the fuck out of here." She left the room in a hurry, running up the stairs and opening her door in a hurry. Once her door had been safely slammed shut, she leaned against it to catch her breath. A wave of nausea swept over her and she just barely made it to the bathroom before she dry heaved and emptied the very little contents of her stomach into the toilet.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks again to Miami Scene for reviewing and anyone else who favorited/alerted. I'm REALLY hoping that this story can get more reviews. The amount that I have so far is really discouraging me from posting anymore chapters. So please review!**_

**Chapter 3: Slumber**

"_Stop it, stop it!" she could hear her mother scream from downstairs. "Get your hands off of me, you drunken bastard!" _

_There was a loud bang and clang and the sound of glass shattering. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?" he retorted back, another loud bang following it. Aleeya flinched at the noise and hugged her knees to her chest. She rocked back and forth in rhythm with her sobs. Please God don't let him hurt her. Please God don't let her _leave_._

"_I hate you!" Bethany screeched, tears clouding her voice. "I hate you and I can't _believe _I ever married you. Fuck you. Fuck you! I can't live here with you anymore." _Bang, bang.

"_You can't leave!" her dad countered. "Where are you gonna go? What are you gonna do? You have no skills; you'll _die_ out there on your own. You're crazy, you're fucking crazy!"_

"_Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop," Aleeya whimpered. "Please just _stop._" There was more screaming and yelling and soon there was the sound of wheels rolling on the floor._ _It hit her: she was leaving. Her mom was leaving and she was going to leave her here. She immediately hopped off the floor and raced downstairs. Catching her parents pushing each other, she started crying. "Don't leave!" she screamed, catching both of the adults' attention. "Please don't leave, Mommy. I love you. Please stay." Her eyes burned with tears and she felt like she was going to throw up. _

_Neither of her parents listened to her pleas and they instantly went back to fighting. "You wanna leave, then?" Greg countered gravely. "Fine. Get the fuck out of here. I guarantee you'll be crawling back to me in a month. You're weak; you won't survive." Without another word, Bethany gathered her luggage that she'd carried out and began to leave._

"_No, Mom!" Aleeya cried desperately. "Don't leave me, don't leave me, Mom! _Please_!" Bethany didn't so much as give her a second glance before she headed out the door. Aleeya collapsed on the floor and began to shake. _

"_This is all your fucking fault. She left because of you," her dad growled at her. She looked at her dad weakly, a look of pure hatred plastered on his face. "Your fault," he grimaced before wrapping his hand in her hair, pulling her up. _

"_Ouch, Daddy!" she sobbed, shaking her head to try to get free. "That hurts, _please stop_." He didn't show any sympathy for her as he slammed her against the wall. _

_All she saw was stars before everything went black._

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It would've been a complete and total understatement to say that Aleeya was surprised by Puck's date. She was _flabbergasted_. Her jaw almost hit the floor. The girl was _nothing_ like the usual ones Puck dated. She was out-spoken, not an airhead. She was curvy, not flat like a plank. Most of all, she was a kind of a badass.

"'Sup, nerds," Lauren Zizes greeted Finn and Aleeya, nodding her head as a gesture of acknowledgement.

Finn seemed to be significantly less dumbfounded than Aleeya as he greeted the wrestler back.

"Hey," she managed to mutter, once her mind had figuratively exploded.

"You guys know Lauren, right?" Puck asked, introducing them. Aleeya and Finn both nodded. "Lauren, this is Aleeya and Finn." She nodded her head again, and then began looking extremely bored as she examined her fingernails.

Aleeya looked at Finn for confirmation, sure that this had to be a dream. He shrugged in response then stood up, Aleeya following suit soon after. "Should we get a table?" Finn offered. They all agreed, and then waited in line to reserve a table.

"Your eyes look really beautiful," Puck commented shyly, grinning at Lauren.

She immediately rolled her eyes, "Shit, Puckerman. You're such a girl." Aleeya snorted, earning a glare from Puck.

They finally arrived at the front of the line and Puck greeted the waitress. "Can we have two tables, please?" Her brows furrowed.

"Two different tables?" the waitress asked, looking around at the teenagers. Puck nodded in confirmation and the hostess looked at her computer to find open tables.

"Woah, wait, are we not all sitting together?" Aleeya asked, glancing at Puck and Finn.

"No, Lauren and me will sit together and you and Finnocence can sit together," Puck clarified.

"Sounds good," Finn shrugged.

Still slightly confused, Aleeya shook her head before saying, "Whatever," and following the waitress to their tables. She sat Lauren and Puck first before seating Finn and Aleeya at a booth.

XXX

Aleeya and Finn spent the next two hours talking, eating and laughing. She felt at ease, care-free. It was beyond fantastic. She'd even ordered food and since Finn had distracted her so much by their conversation, she couldn't over-analyze what she eating and just finished her plate. Hearing her father's voice in her head, she decided that she'd have to throw it up later.

Her weight had always been something that Greg liked to make fun of her for. As a kid, she had been chubby. Her father had ruthlessly picked at that fact, calling her terrible names that had made her self-esteem shrink to almost nothing. So, eventually it had gotten her, and she'd made a vow not to eat until her dad thought she was skinny enough. She skipped breakfast, lunch and dinner, only eating when she sensed people were getting suspicious of her eating habits. She was now a size 00. Her dad still called her a fucking fat-ass, lard-o and thunder thighs. So, she still didn't eat. At first, it was hard. But it soon had become a normalcy.

"Here's your check," the waitress said, setting down the leather folder.

Without skipping a beat, Finn took the check, examined it, and reached for his wallet. "Here," Aleeya said, tossing thirty dollars on the table.

"No, no, I got it," Finn reassured her, sliding the dollar bills back to Aleeya.

"It's fine, Finn. Really, I can handle this. You paid for Mickey Dees last time, remember?" she said nonchalantly, pushing the money back.

"That's because you didn't eat anything," he countered, a small smirk on his face.

"I did too! I had a sweet tea, or something," she protested.

"Lee, the boy is supposed to pay, right?" Ignoring Aleeya's grunts of protests, he slid a few dollar bills into the folder and slid it to the edge of the table. Before she could even try to compromise an even split of 50/50, the waitress walked by, smiled, and grabbed the check.

"We are in the 21st century, Finnegan," Aleeya disputed, "boys don't _always _have to pay."

"With Quinn I did," Finn objected.

"Well, that's because Quinn's a bitch," Aleeya stated.

Finn chuckled mildly, "Why do you hate all my ex-girlfriends?"

"Because they're all bitches," she stated dryly causing Finn to laugh again.

"Of course they are."

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Finn walked Aleeya to her door; all the while she was praying that her dad would be asleep or unconscious. The last thing that she needed was for her dad to welcome Finn with waft of his breath that undoubtedly smelled of Jim Bean and/or José Cuervo. It'd freak him out for sure. Aleeya didn't recall Finn ever meeting her dad; the only time he ever came to her house was when her dad was at work. Even then, he never stayed for long.

"Tonight was fun," Finn said when they approached her door.

"Yeah, it was," she admitted, smiling genuinely and brushing her hair behind her ear. Finn smiled as well, one of those goofy smiles that Aleeya loved _so _much. "Thanks for dinner."

"It's not a problem." He shoved his hands in his pockets and teetered back and forth on his feet. He bit his lip, like he always did when he was thinking hard about something. But what could he be thinking hard about? Before she had a chance to ask what was wrong, Finn did something that she never ever would expect him to do.

He kissed her. He leaned right down and kissed her. On the lips. His soft, thin lips touched hers and it was spectacular. After only a few seconds, she pulled back, blinking erratically and trying to process what had just happened.

"I'm sorry," Finn sputtered, rubbing his hands across his face. "I shouldn't have done that."

Standing on her toes, she kissed him back. "Yes, you should've," she smiled, pulling away. Finn grinned goofily, making Aleeya swoon.

"Call me tomorrow, okay?" She stretched her body again and kissed Finn on the cheek, bidding him goodbye. Rubbing the spot where she'd kissed him, Finn, red-faced, smiled and waved before retreating to his car.

She bit her lip before entering her house. Resting her body on the floor and sliding down to the ground, she tried to clear her flooded thoughts. Yawning, she decided that she was tired and she wanted to go to sleep. Smiling the whole way, she walked sleeping to the couch before lying down and letting her dreams consume her.

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Aleeya was happily sleeping when she felt a strong tug on her hair, awaking her from her slumber. She was yanked to the floor, and before she had time to process what was happening, she heard a belt flying through the air and strike her on her stomach. She cried out in pain and opened her eyes to see her father standing above her, his favorite torture device in his hand. The belt, the metal-studded belt. She felt her t-shirt dampen with blood and she crawled into the fetal position. She felt the belt hit her now vulnerable spine, causing her to arch her now bruised back.

"Ow, _stop_!" she cried, her eyes stinging from her tears. Her hair was yanked again and she felt that at any moment, her locks would be ripped out of her head. She thrashed her head back and forth, trying to break free. She finally was let go, and her head came sailing to the floor, crashing hard.

Her dad was growling something at her, but her head was pulsating against her skull so loudly that she didn't hear a thing. The dark room turned darker as she drifted out of conscious.

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Finn returned to the Hudson-Hummel house with a humungous grin on his face. It just wouldn't go away. He'd smiled the whole ride home. He couldn't help it. He was just so blissful.

His cheerful attitude was noticeable to his family, especially his step-brother Kurt who read emotions like he read those weekly _People_ magazines. Kurt's eyes followed Finn as he walked to the kitchen, grabbed himself a purple Fanta, returned to the living room and joined Kurt and his boyfriend who were

holding hands on the couch watching a movie.

"Whatcha watching?" Finn asked conversationally as he popped open his drink, sat next to Kurt and

took a big glug.

"_Breakfast at Tiffany's_," Blaine responded, sounding rather bored, while Kurt was still gazing at his step-brother with curiosity.

"Cool," Finn said, sinking back into the couch.

The next few moments were silent before Kurt's nosiness had gotten the best of him. "Why do you look so cheery?"

Glancing at the pale boy, Finn shrugged before answering, "Nothing."

"Liar," Kurt commented, narrowing his eyes.

Finn smiled again. "Aleeya and I kissed." Finn had never seen Kurt's jaw drop so fast.

"_What_?" The tall jock repeated himself, and in return got a high-pitched squeal from Kurt.

"Relax," Blaine advised his boyfriend, rubbing his arm.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, waving his hand in front of his face dramatically, "this is just so exciting! You two are so_ adorable _together."

"Congrats, man," Blaine smiled at Finn and Finn thanked him.

"Wait a minute, did you kiss her or did she kiss you?" Kurt asked eagerly.

"I kissed her and then she kissed me," Finn confessed.

Kurt and Blaine released a synchronized, "Aw!" Kurt began to talk excitedly with his boyfriend and Finn felt a vibration coming from his pocket.

It was a text from Puck, "_howd it go?_"

"_mission accomplished_," was his response.

"Is it Aleeya?" Kurt gushed.

"No," Finn said, chuckling at his step-brother's eagerness. "Just Puck." He saw Kurt sigh and smiled again.

"Oh well." Finn chugged the rest of his soda, tossed it into the recycling bin, and retreated into his room. Laying down on his bed, he received a follow-up text from Puck, asking what exactly had happened. He texted the details and Puck sounded as if he was very pleased with himself.

Finn knew that he was succumbing to sleep, so he stripped of his clothes and changed into his comfortable cotton pajamas. Before he went to bed, he took out his phone and dialed Aleeya's number. He waited for the dial tone and eventually reached Aleeya's automatic message system. Disappointment swept over him. He guessed it was okay though. He didn't even really know what to say to her. Maybe that was something that he should be planning out.

Possible conversations ran through his mind as his eyes shut and drifted into a peaceful slumber.

**_Like it? Yes? No? Review!_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thanks for the reviews. They mean a lot.**_

**Chapter 4: Rough**

Aleeya and Finn walked into the choir room the following Monday hand in hand, giggling the way new couples do. Their fellow glee clubbers gapped at them, save for Blaine, Kurt and Puck. Even Mr. Schue looked slightly perplexed, but quickly shook the look off and greeted the class. He wrote something on the board that neither Finn nor Aleeya even bothered to look at.

"Guys," Mr. Schue was saying, "Nationals aren't for a while, but I think we need to pick a few song choices. Just so we have plenty of choices to choose from."

"I couldn't agree more," Rachel chirped up. "I was actually thinking of a duet-"

"Thank you, Rachel, for bringing me onto my topic," Mr. Schue said, quickly trying to silence the Jewish girl and regain control of his class. "I want you guys to get into groups of two or three, report to me and then tonight, I'll pick songs that I think will compliment your voices." The chatter began about the choosing of groups. Mr. Schue gave up on trying silencing the talkative teens, decided that he didn't have anything else to really say, and let them talk amongst themselves.

Before Finn could utter a word, Rachel sneakily appeared, almost cat-like, by his side. "So, Finn," Rachel began, "I think it's obvious that we're a group, and any other vocals will just bring us down-"

For the second time in mere minutes, Rachel was cut off from her never-ending prattling. "Actually, Rachel, I was going to work will Lee."

The dropped-jaw look on Aleeya and Rachel's faces were almost mirrored. Finn had _never _asked Aleeya to be his partner; it was always Rachel. And, obviously, Aleeya couldn't blame him. Rachel's voice made her star-struck, while her voice was mainly just good for harmonizing in the background. It was like comparing a mockingbird and a seagull. Why was Finn picking the seagull?

"What? Well… okay," Rachel said, speaking slowly as if she was trying to figure this out in her head. "I guess Aleeya could join our group. I mean, her vocal chords are soft enough that they could possibly compliment mine." Then, in her sickeningly sweet condescending tone, she added to Aleeya, "In fact, if we practice hard enough, I bet I could rid your voice of its persistent flatness."

Coming from anyone else, Aleeya would be insulted. But it was Rachel. Rachel said things that were hurtful, but she viewed them as constructive criticism. Rachel was like an annoying puppy-dog. And how could you hate a puppy?

"Rachel, I was thinking more that me and Aleeya could work together," Finn stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck, his face quickly reddening. The boy was never good at confrontation. "Alone," he concluded when Rachel just didn't seem like she was getting it.

Aleeya didn't understand why Finn wanted to be her partner. Then, Finn placed his arm around her, and it clicked. Finn didn't care about her singing abilities; he just wanted an excuse to spend more time with her. A smile crossed her face. How unbelievably sweet.

The smile quickly faded when she saw the frown on Rachel. "Oh, okay." The silence was unbearably awkward as Finn looked anywhere else in the room but at Rachel and was rubbing his hands together the way he always did when he was feeling uncomfortable. Rachel looked at the couple, the hurt look lingering on Finn.

As Rachel was walking away, Puck, as always swept in to save to day. Much to Aleeya and Finn's happiness, Puck was seemingly consoling the short girl.

"That was fun," Aleeya said sarcastically.

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Aleeya and Finn were _supposed _to be practicing their duet. At least, that's what Finn had told his mom. Mr. Schue had assigned them The Beatle's popular hit _Something_, which was definitely something Aleeya could dig. The Beatles were beyond spectacular, and far better than the_ DreamGirls'_ song that Puck got, _When I First Saw You. Something _was supposed to be a good match for Aleeya and Finn, because Mr. Schue seemed really excited about it. "_This song is a _classic, _guys,_" he gushed. "_One of the best Beatle's hits ever_."

She had to admit, the lyrics had begun to make her swoon. One could only listen to, "_Something in the way she moves. Attracts me like no other lover. Something in the way she woos me. I don't want to leave her now. You know I believe and how,_" so many times before they desperately wanted to jump the singer's bones.

So know, here they were, sitting in Finn's room, lying on the bed with their tongues intertwined. Finn's warm breath smelled like candy and his hands, softly stroking the back of her thigh, made her feel safe like no one else ever had.

If only he would quit hitting her bruises. Finn was incredibly uncoordinated, and his long limbs continuously poked and prodded at the welts on her back and nudge into her battered ribcage. It hurt like hell, but kissing Finn… it made up the discomfort.

_"Think of the mailman, think of the mailman."_

Making out was _awesome_. No, awesome wasn't even a good enough word for it. What was that word? Oh, yeah. It was _splendid._ Kissing itself was awesome, but with Aleeya? It was twenty times more spectacular.

Every time Finn would place his hands on the small of her back, she arched her back and brought her hips forward. Although Leeya bringing her hips, and her, uh, _ladyparts_, toward his, um, _boxers_, made his premature, erm, _problem, _just that more prominent, it felt too good to let it stop.

_"Think of the mailman, think of the mailman."_

Aleeya giggled, rubbing her face up against Finn's shoulder. "What?" he asked. She shook her head and muttered that it was nothing, but before he could protest again she had flipped him around- making Aleeya on top- and her lips were on top of his.

Attempting to be a slick as he possibly could, he rubbed the small of her back. She shuddered and bit her lip. He snaked his hands upward, fumbling for the strap of her bra. Something made him stop.

Her smooth skin had turned into a bumpy, scabby and scarred area. Aleeya whimpered, tears stinging her eyes. Although she looked like she was pleading him not to, he became worried and fumbled his hand across the rest of her skin, trying to detect what was wrong with it. There were small cuts on the bumps, as if whatever the bump was had sharp pins on it.

Pushing him away, she pulled down her shirt protectively. "What the hell is that?" Finn questioned, his eyebrows burrowing together.

"Nothing," she sniveled, carving her nails into her skin.

"Don't give me that," he said, his tone teetering on desperation and absolute terror. "Let me see," he ordered, grabbing for her arm.

"No!" she shrieked, jumping away from him and tumbling off the bed.

"Aleeya, _please_ let me see it." He could see her chest rising and falling rapidly. "I'm not trying to hurt you," he promised.

"Finn, stop it," she ordered. "It's, it's nothing. Okay?" He had never seen her look so… _petrified_. Her hands were shaking, her face was paling and her beautiful blue eyes were wide, as if she was a deer caught in headlights.

Finn could honestly say that he had no clue what to do. Granted, he could say that a lot, but there was something _wrong_ here and he didn't know what to do about it. He reached for her hand in a sign of comfort, but she instantly jumped away, sinking further from him. "I won't hurt you," he promised again, hoping that this time it would stick. "I swear to God and everybody, I just want to help you, okay?"

She didn't look like she was breathing normally. She was making muffled sounds that scared the hell out of Finn. "I won't tell anyone," he whispered, not quite sure if he could keep the promise that he was making. But, at this point, he just needed to see what was wrong. He was willing to say anything to see it.

"Promise me, Finn," she sniffed, sounding like a five-year-old girl. It was beginning to break Finn's heart.

Slowing hard, he said, "I promise." Very hesitantly and very shakily, Aleeya raised her shirt and showed her back to Finn. The sight made vomit creep up his throat.

Her skin was an angry red instead of its usual creamy-white tone. There were thick enflamed lines that covered her back, crisscrossing and over-lapping one another. The lines were swollen and looked to be covered in blisters and welts. Every line had an assortment of puncture marks that were stacked in rows. They must've been attached to whatever caused the lines. The wounds had newly scabbed over, leaving them a dark reddish purple.

It wasn't just that terrible sight that made Finn want to desperately empty his stomach. There were marks _everywhere_: on her hips, on her shoulders, on her sides. And there seemed to be something wrong with her ribcage, as well. Her stomach was so skinny that you could see her ribcage effortlessly, making every imperfection that much more conspicuous. Her ribs were crooked. Finn was no doctor, but it seemed as if the bones had been that way for some time. The inner parts of her ribs were discolored; yellow, green and brown were invading her skin.

There was something wrong here, seriously wrong.

"What," Finn was saying, but his throat kept closing up. Finally managing to find his voice, he asked, "What the hell happened?"

Aleeya had no response. Finn only heard soft whimpering noises. In a speedy move, Finn stood up and yanked Aleeya's hand. "C'mon, let's go see my mom. She's a nurse; she'll know what to do."

Aleeya shrieked, "No! No, Finn!" She jerked her arm away. "You promised! You can't tell anyone!" Her chest was rapidly rising again and her voice was getting higher and higher, something Finn always noticed happened to her when she was upset.

"Look at yourself!" he said desperately. "You _need_ help!"

"I know how to take care of myself," Aleeya said in an attempt to be defensive, but to Finn it sounded more like pleading.

"You can't just ignore this," Finn ordered. He ran his fingers through his slightly gelled hair, trying to wrap his mind around what was happening. This had to be a nightmare. It was the only possible solution. There was no way that this sarcastic, energetic, funny, smart _beautiful_ girl could conceivably look like this; a nightmare was the only probable thing he could think of.

The room was silent for a few moments before Finn dared to ask the question, "Who would do this to you?" As far as Finn knew, everyone loved Aleeya, with the exception of Quinn, Rachel and Santana. But he couldn't picture any of those girls doing this much damage to his girlfriend.

"My d-"The words were so faint and so quiet, that Finn almost missed them. Her d-? He racked his brain for a few moments before coming to a realization that made his head spin. Her _dad_. Her dad, Mr. Franklin, that Finn hadn't talked to since he was twelve. The man who was left by his wife and left to care for his daughter. Was _that _why Mrs. Franklin had left? If he was harming Aleeya, then it was fairly safe to say that Mrs. Franklin had taken some battering too. But, no, that wasn't possible. There was no way that Mrs. Franklin would_ leave_ her own kid with an abusive father. Surely, she would've taken Aleeya with her, right? There was no way that a mother could care about her kid so little that she would leave a twelve-year-old to fend for herself against a grown man.

Finally, Finn repeated, "Your dad?"

He could visibly see Aleeya crumple at the word. "No, not him. That's not who I said."

Finn was stupid, but he wasn't _that _stupid. "Then who did you say?"

Again, he received no response. "Aleeya," he began, "I can help you. We can get you some medical treatment, someone to take you out of that house…"

"Stop!" she shrieked, closing her eyes, making Finn again compare her to a five-year-old girl. "I can take care of myself, Finn. I promise."

"Bullshit!" He found that he was raising his voice as well.

"In a few years, I'll be out of this town." Her voice sounded hopeful. Desperate. "I need him Finn, and he needs me."

Finn was tempted to ask who _he _was, just so that he could hear in words who her abuser was. But he didn't risk it.

She let out another pathetic squeak. "I have to go, Finn."

"No, Aleeya, I can't let you go back there."

"I'm _fine_," she persisted. "He only does it when I deserve it, okay?"

Exactly how many times did 'she deserve it'?

"You can't tell anyone, Finn." She sounded serious. Grave and pitiful and serious. "I swear."

Finn shifted uncomfortably in his shoes, instantly regretting his promise to not tell anyone.

"I will never forgive you if you do," she threatened, clenching her jaw and trying to stay strong. "Promise me, Finn."

"I promise," he mumbled pathetic, the words feeling like acid on his tongue.

"_Promise _me, Finn," she ordered, sounding slightly threatening. "Swear on your life that you won't breathe a word of this to anyone."

He mumbled another half-hearted promise.

"Swear on my life." Finn looked at her strangely. Apparently she could tell that Finn wasn't thinking of keeping his promise. "Swear on my life, Finnegan Anthony Hudson, that you will never tell anyone."

His breath hitched and his heart fell. "'I promise," he said solemnly, the word now feeling as if they were weighing him down.

They exchanged one more look before Aleeya grabbed her belongings and hurried out of Finn's room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Crash**

Aleeya had managed to hold her tears. She kept them in at Finn's house, in the car ride, but now she was at school- one of the only places she truly felt safe. She ran to the football field in complete darkness, nothing illuminated the dark grass. She sat on the second row of bleachers and sobbed. She shook violently with each new batch of tears, her skin covered in goosebumps from the cold. The bleachers were painfully freezing, but she didn't dare move to a warmer place. Here, she was isolated. And that was the only time she dared to ever cry. Hot tears were the only thing that made her warm, but they were countered by the cold snot dripping out of her nose. She looked disgusting, but she didn't care. She had no reason to care anymore.

She was stupid. Moronic, in fact. She should've _never _shown Finn. And she _especially _shouldn't have told him! Finn couldn't keep a secret, not for long at least. She hoped that her promises kept Finn from spilling his guts to his mom, but that would only last so long. Then, one day, she would be home and a social worker would show up to her house. They would ask where her dad was, they needed to speak with him. Her dad would emerge, presumably drunk, but sober up as soon as he saw that they had a visitor. They would ask her and her father some questions; ask for a tour of the house. They would say that they had received an anonymous tip that there was some abuse going on, and every tip needed to be inspected. Her father would blow off the question, laugh in fact. There was no way that he would hurt his daughter, he loved his child. Then, the social worker would leave, saying that they would return in a little while for a check-up visit, but Aleeya and her father wouldn't know when that would be. But, that didn't mean that they were suspicious of anything, it was just protocol. _Bullshit_.

Then, when the social worker finally left, Aleeya's dad would be livid. He would freak out. He would grab Aleeya's hair and drag her across the floor, as he'd done so many times. Regardless of how much Aleeya thrashed around, regardless of how hard she screamed and pleaded, he would take her into his office. Before she could turn and run, her dad's hand would've reached the drawer. Aleeya would stay still paralyzed with fear. She'd cry and beg her father not to, but he wouldn't listen. He'd cock the metal gun that he always kept loaded in his drawer. He'd walk to her, shouting terrible, menacing and malicious things and say that she could've shut her whore mouth. She'd shriek and before she could even say another word, her dad would press the shaft of the gun to her chin. Then, finally, he'd press the trigger, and splatter blood and the remains of her brains against the door.

She was going to die; there was no way around it. Her father was going to kill her, and she would deserve it.

Well, maybe there was _one _way around it. She could run away. Wait until her dad was passed out one day. Pack her clothes, steal her dad's wallet, take her car and drive as far away as possible. Maybe Florida. Or New Mexico, she'd always loved Mexican food. Although Texas would probably be better for that. She'd get a job as a dishwasher or a waitress, and live in a shoebox apartment. Change her name, cut her hair, and get a completely new identity.

Her dad would find her. He would find her and kill her for leaving. No matter how far she ran and no matter how different she made herself, her dad would find her. He. Would. Always. Find. Her.

The simple fact made Aleeya begin to weep again. She sobbed and sobbed, her tears more for self-pity than desperation. Why? Why did her life have to be like this? Why couldn't it be like Quinn's life, or Rachel's? Why couldn't her father love her?

She stopped for a moment. There was a time when she remembered her father loving her. They were vague and hazy memories, albeit they were there. Playing on the playground at her old school. Going to Cleveland Browns games with her. Afterwards, they always would get ice cream. Aleeya would get strawberry with rainbow sprinkles while her father preferred cookie dough. That was, of course, when her mother was still in the picture.

Aleeya started to cry again, not that she'd ever quite stopped. As far as Aleeya could tell, there was only one other option. She had to kill herself before her father could. It'd be far more painful if it would come from her father. She was going to die, and it might as well be on her own terms. It would be nice to be control of something in her life for once. To do things the way she wanted to do it.

Her heart began to thump in her chest. She had to do it. Her breathing was becoming erratic as she ran to her car. She fumbled with her keys, but the moment she heard her car roar to life, she backed out, narrowly missing a dumpster. She watched the speed of her car accelerate. 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. Now it was 70. She was going 70 miles per hour, and she felt as if her heart was beating twice as fast. She struggled with every breath, and her hand was shaking. Swerving past a car, she heard a loud honk that broke her out of her adrenaline-based haze. What was she doing? _What _was she _doing_? She could kill someone! She turned her car onto the curb, stopping slowly enough to make sure that her car didn't flip over. She parked on a grassy hill, and her body slammed against her seat, making her lungs stop momentarily.

She struggled to catch her breath as she came down from her endorphin high. _What_ was going through her mind? She couldn't kill herself. She was too big of a pussy to do it. She heard a soft ringing sound and saw a light flash from her backseat. Turning around, she searched for the object, but the ringing sound stopped before she could reach it.

The sound was coming from her phone. It must've been thrown into the backseat during her joyride. Finn had been trying to call her. Her heart sunk and she didn't make any effort whatsoever to call him back. She didn't even have any idea what to say to him anyway. Her mind was reeling and she felt sick to her stomach.

Tears streamed down her cheeks again, and she waited for more to come. They didn't. She guessed that she'd dried herself out. She wiped the tears away, before slowly starting her car and heading for home. When she reached her house, she opened the door quietly and listened closely for any signs of her father. She didn't hear any stumbling, any glass breaking or anything being knocked around, so it was safe to say that he was asleep or out of the house. She crept upstairs before lying on her bed and waiting for sleep to consume her. But it didn't. She lied there for an hour, two, before she decided it was useless.

She tried to think of peaceful and relaxing memories to make her fall sleep. One came to mind easily. Finn and her drawing a town with sidewalk chalk on Finn's driveway. There was a race-car track, an ice cream shop and two malls. Finn and Aleeya both agreed to not include a school.

"_We should draw some flowers," Finn advised. Aleeya nodded and drew purple, orange and green flowers. _

"_How 'bout a zoo?" Aleeya asked, wiping the excess chalk on her already filthy pants. _

"_Yeah!" Finn quickly agreed and began to construct one out of a red piece of chalk. _

"_I want to draw a purple zebra," Aleeya announced. _

"_With orange polka-dots!" Finn exclaimed and Aleeya haphazardly began to sketch the non-existent creature. _

_About a half an hour later, their drawings consumed the entire driveway save for the spot that Mrs. Hudson's old blue Volkswagen occupied. Aleeya and Finn laid back and admired their city. _

"_I wanna live there, Finn," Aleeya stated sweetly. _

"_We will, Lee. One day, you and me." He smiled and grabbed Aleeya's hand. "We're gonna live there forever. We won't ever have to work, we'll just play with LEGOs and hang on the monkey bars and eat ice cream all day long."_

"_Why don't we gotta work, Finn?" she asked. She needed to look up at him, even by this age Finn was much taller than her._

"_Because it's our city!"_

"_What about our parents? Are they gonna come with us too?" Finn pondered over this for a few minutes, as if gathering his thoughts together. _

"_No," he finally stated._

"_Why not? Won't we miss them?"_

"_Well, Lee, they can visit us when we miss them," Finn stated, as if this fact was obvious. "But this city, it's just for you and me." _

_Aleeya smiled and looked up at the sky. "Just you and me," she repeated thoughtfully. _

The memory was enough to let Aleeya slip into a peaceful dream land, at least for a little while.


End file.
